Hard work and lady luck aligned for the Heathens when they hosted the Heathens in a mouth-watering encounter at Kyadondo Rugby Club.
On paper, the visitors were the superior side owing to their starters and finishers. When it got to the pitch, the Pirates proved why they were the favourites by dominating the set pieces. Pirates won its first two lineouts and disrupted a Heathens lineout. Whereas the Heathens retained possession on their scrums, it was on the Pirates’ second scrum that the Heathens’ pack was completely annihilated.
The hosts showed intent to win by going ahead through a Matthew Musasizi penalty. In a moment of pure grit, Sylvester Munguacel ripped the ball, offloaded to Aaron Ofoyrwoth, who made a cheeky chicken wing pass to Norbert Okeny who hit the gap and laid off the ball to Trevor Ochan for a simple dash to the try line. Musasizi was once again good off the tee for a conversion.
The visitors then showed up at the party on Jeremiah Okello’s try, set up by centre Eric Mula’s grabber off the toes. William Nkore’s conversion was good in setting up the Pirates to launch a comeback. However, this comeback was stopped in its tracks as Musasizi’s box kick and Denis Etwau’s chase forced a handling error from the Pirates.
Okeny was once again called into action after an exciting set play off the scrum. Fullback Malcom Okello then joined the line of attack and had options to his right and left but tucked in the ball and dived for the try line. Before the end of the first half, the Pirates pulled back 7 more points through an Emong Eliphaz try and Nkore conversion.
In the second half, Heathens extended their lead to 18 points through a Musasizi penalty, creating a small 4-point buffer. The game then turned on its head, thanks to the solo effort of Alex Aturinda. At this point, the Pirates were comfortable in the driver’s seat, but the Heathens still had a few tricks up their sleeves.
Ofoyrwoth’s assist to new signing Julius Opio brought the score to 25 – 26 for the visitors, before man of the match Okeny, snatched the victory for the home side. Whereas there were no further scores, the match was far from over. A late surge on the left wing almost yielded dividends for the Pirates, but great defense from Michael Amollo handed possession to the Heathens for a lineout.
This loss dropped the Pirates from 1st to 6th on the log.